(AN: RWB_ and the others already got their weapons upgraded at this point since they didn't enter Atlas illegally. And sorry for the wait, was grinding Apex because the season was almost over)
-A Few days later-
"-and then I'll show up on my grimm." Salem says finishing explaining how she's going to make her appearance when she attacks Atlas, which of course took some convincing, but I got what I wanted in the end.
"Damn, you really want to make one heck of an entrance, don't you?"
"Indeed I do, it will be my final battle after all. Or at least I hope it will be."
"You should have more faith in what I can do, Salem. This will be your last battle."
"*Sigh* If you say so, I've tried for so long and kept failing up to the point where I didn't think death was even a possibility anymore."
"Well you'll get what you want soon enough. You've waited several lifetimes; a couple of weeks should be nothing to you."
"*Chuckle* True, I look forward to our encounter Kratos."
"So do I Salem."
As I said that, I start waking up due to my habit of doing so. I look outside from my room given to me by James and the sun hasn't even fully risen yet. I check my scroll to see it's still 4 30 in the morning, I might as well get something to eat, I know I won't be able to go back to sleep anyway.
I put some normal clothes on for once and head down to the cafeteria and grab some food before taking a seat outside. And unlike the chilly winds at that used to be apathy infested village, it's an oddly cool and gentle breeze despite being so high from the ground. I hear footsteps and I turn half expecting Raven, but it turns out to be Qrow with his own meal in hand.
"Well this is a surprise; thought you would be the last one awake." I say.
"You're telling me, I can't believe I woke up myself." He says before taking a seat.
We eat in silence with the occasional passerby still half asleep until Qrow speaks out of the blue, "So, assuming you aren't lying about being able to kill Salem, how are you gonna do it?"
"I've already told 2, technically 3 people now, and I that's enough people knowing."
"And who are these people? And why did you say technically 3?"
"Because the '2' I told was Oscar and Ozpin since they're sharing bodies. And the other one I'm going to keep their identity to myself."
"*Sigh* Then I hope, for everyone's sake, you'll have one hell of a plan." He says as he finishes up his food before taking a swig from his flask. "See ya, the others are probably about to wake up."
He walks away as he takes another swig from his flask. As he walks back in a familiar raven flies from behind the building and lands next to me before it turns to Raven.
"I'm surprised he's up that early." She says
"That's what I told him. He can't believe it himself."
"What were you talking about that made him look all mopey back there."
"Talked about Salem, and if I had a plan to kill her."
"Seems about the right topic to get any one of them into a bad mood."
"Hey, do you want to spar? I've only ever seen you fight strong opponents twice. The others are probably going to train as well since they know that Salem is coming here."
"Sure, I haven't done a spar in a while. It would be nice fighting someone that doesn't want me dead for once."
After she agreed we head to one of many training grounds that James gave us and prepared for our spar. And one of the great things about these training grounds is that there are gravity options along with terrain options.
"So what gravity you want to use, I'm fine with anything." I ask.
"Just two times gravity for now, I don't want the fight to end that quickly."
"Alright then, the area is just going to be a plain field with some hills. And do you want to allow using our grimm?"
"I'd say after we've warmed up it's fine."
"Alright then, get ready."
We walk a few steps away from each other before she gets into her ready stance and I tale out my blades. The arena counts down and with every second Raven's slightly relaxed demeanor became serious. And the moment the countdown reaches zero Raven dashes at me while zig zagging left and right.
She goes for a low strike which I block just in time, and I attempt to disarm her by swiping my blades upwards, but she has a strong grip and the sword stays firm in her hand. I quickly try to kick her, but she jumps back a few steps before re engaging. Her blade changes to a dark green color before she slashes upwards causing lots of dust to come up effectively making a smokescreen.
I look around me and spot a soft glow shining from the smokescreen before it quickly gets brighter and turns out to be Raven's sword. Unfortunately I was just a moment too late to block, earning me a shallow cut which healed as quickly as it appeared. She goes back into the mist and tries to attack me from different directions but I'm ready this time as I block and dodge most of it while I heal the small cuts I'm getting.
Having enough of this, I sent out Ker and he used his wings to clear the smokescreen revealing Raven with Erebus on her head, his tails swinging wildly. Suddenly, his fur lights up in flames but surprisingly doesn't burn Raven's hair, it instead slowly spreads from its fur down to Raven covering her body in an aura of flames.
"Figured out a combo out already?"
"Yeah, it's quite useful."
She says before dashing at me again much faster than before while leaving a trail of fire behind her. I can see her blade turn blue before smoke starts to appear out of it, making it harder to dodge. She goes for multiple slashes with more getting through my guard than last time. After a few more strikes I manage to grab her blade after reinforcing my hand with aura.
She looks shocked for a moment before I kick her away, and this time without her sword. I embed her sword into the ground before dashing right at her with Ker already back in my shadow. As I get closer, her flames seem to get brighter and hotter. And I was right on point because I immediately feel my aura working double time to heal faster than it can burn when she blocks one of my punches.
She's also faster by the looks of it because she can block or dodge most of my attacks now. Or maybe she's starting to adapt. I decide to end it by slamming my foot into the ground hard enough to send chunks of the ground up around me. In response, Raven jumps back but Ker's already in her shadow and binds her limbs together. She tries to struggle out of it but finds it to be useless even with her boost in strength and speed from Erebus.
"Do you yield?" I ask.
"*Sigh* I yield." She says.
After admitting defeat, Ker releases her and she stretches her arms and legs a little before asking, "How is Ker so much stronger than Erebus?"
"Because he's likely killed and absorbed a lot more grimm than Erebus over their lifetimes." I say.
"You can absorb grimm?" Raven asks Erebus.
"Did I not tell you that?" He asks back.
"What? No you haven't." She says.
"Then, now you know." He says before settling into her hair before sleeping.
"Lazy ass fox…" She mumbles under her breath.
Suddenly, "Ouch! Don't start biting my head you little runt!" Raven shouts.
It seems that Erebus heard her and doesn't like to be called lazy… or a runt. Raven pulls out her sword before sheathing it all while trying to get Erebus off her head. She walks out of the arena while jolting every time Erebus bites her head, earning a colorful array of curses as she tires her damndest to get him off her.
I follow after her and I can see that she's getting odd looks from any passerby , because she looks like she's cursing at nothing while trying to get something out of her hair.
"You might want to stop; people might think you're a psychiatric ward patient that escaped." I say
She stops her cursing and freezes for a few moments before sighing angrily and continue our walk back to our living quarters.
(Small Timeskip)
We arrive and see that the others are getting their weapons and other things ready for some training. When Ruby notices that Raven is worse for wear she asks, "Did something happen?"
"Just some training to start off the day." Raven answers.
"Hah! You call that training? That was an ass beating!" Erebus shouts as he sits up from Raven's head.
Raven's taken enough from him as she finally manages to throw him to the ground and she angrily gets her weapon out before chasing a mini Erebus around the place. "Get back here you little runt!" She shouts.
"Uhh, since when were they like that?" Jaune asks.
"Since today it seems." I answer. "And since you're all going training, I'm taking Pyrrha to train for a few days." I say as I look at Pyrrha and she nods.
"Then training time starts now. Last three people at the training are going against me, now go!" Qrow shouts.
And with that little incentive, they bolt off to the direction of the training grounds.
"Should we uh, help her with him?" Qrow asks.
"Just let them be, they can figure out their own problems." I say.
As we walk I just got a great idea. "Hey Qrow."
"Hm?"
"Last one to the training area has to teach at Atlas' academy for a day!" I shout as I get on Ker and fly in the direction of the training grounds.
I can see his eyes widen in shock before he quickly turns into a bird and tries and catch up. And tried he did, but he was a few seconds short. We arrive at the training area and I get off Ker as Qrow transforms back panting.
"What happened?" Ruby asked.
"He lost a bet, Pyrrha do some warmups. I've got a call to make."
A look of dread appears on his face and tries to reason with me but gets dragged away by Jaune, Ren, and Nora.
